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Woman arrested for overdue 'Twlight' library book

June 28, 2012 | 1:13
pm

A New Mexico woman was handcuffed and taken to jail this month for $35.98 in library fines. The Portales Public Library's records show that Lori Teel checked out Stephenie Meyer's book "Twilight" and a two-DVD set of "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" in 2010 and never returned them.

The overdue library fines led to a summons to appear in court; when Teel failed to do that, a warrant was issued for her arrest. Teel says she never got any notices, because they were sent to an old address and returned to the court, undeliverable.

Teel was arrested in front of her five children, ages 1 to 10. Police had been called to her home to investigate a disturbance when they discovered the warrant for Teel.

“Honestly, it was awful,” Teel said of the arrest and her night in the Roosevelt County Detention Center. “For me, it was very awful because I have never been in trouble for anything in my life.”

Her children, ages 1 to 10, stayed in a neighbor’s home until Teel was released the following morning on $610 bond.

“My kids are still very emotional,” Teel said. “They had to stay with a complete stranger. My 3-year-old is traumatized over it. She will not leave my side.”

Charges against Teel were dismissed Monday. Her lawyer has notified officials that she plans to file legal action for the arrest.

The Portales Public Library has replaced its copy of Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight," which is currently checked out. The fate of the copy that Teel had, as well as the movie, remains a mystery: She says she doesn't even remember checking them out of the library.